Hoop-skirt



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE MALLORY, OF VVATERTOXVN, CONNECTICUT.

HOOP-SKIRT.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 21,839, dated October19, 1858; Ressued February 18, 1862, No. 1,276.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE MALLORY, of Vatertown, in the county ofLitchfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Ladies Hooped Skirts; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the saine,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of a skirt with myimprovement, representing it as itappears when the wearer stands up.Fig. 2 is a side view exhibiting it as it appears when the wearer sitsdown. Fig. 3 is a plan of one of the hoops.

Similar let-ters of reference indicate corresponding parts in theseveral figures.

This invention is intended to remedy a great defect which exists in allthe skirts heretofore manufactured with hoops or springs of metal. Owingto the inflexibility of such hoops or springs in an upward and downwarddirection, the fronts of those whose back parts are sat upon, when thewearer sits down, are thrown upward and caused to raise the front of thedress in an objectionable manner.

My invention consists in constructing one or more of the hoops orsprings of a skirt in such a manner as to preserve as far as necessaryits inflexibility in an upward and downward direction in all partsexcept at a convenient point or part on each side where I make themflexible in such direction in order .that they may bend and allow thefront portion to hang down over the front of the seat when the wearer issitting down.

A, A, A', A', B, B, are the hoops or springs of the skirt, and C, C, theconnecting or suspending tapes. The lower hoops or springs A, A, and theupper ones B, B, are or may be of ordinary construction, that is to say,of thin strips of steel, which, when bent into form and in place in theskirt, have their width in a vertical direction and are elastic in ahorizontal direction. Those A', A', which are likely to be sat upon aremade in the same way, except that at each side a short piece is cut outor omitted and the space filled by two pieces a, a, of the same orsubstantially similar materialpreferably pieces of well-tempered thinflat steel springwset with its edges transverse to the edges of t-heother parts or with its width in a horizontal direction. These pieces a,a, are represented as being united with the other parts of the hoops bythe ends of said pieces and those of the other parts being inserted inslits cut transversely to each other in opposite ends of small blocksZ), ZJ, and soldered therein. This I consider to be the best method ofconstruction, but a cheaper method of making them would be to twist aportion on each side of each hoop or spring A', to the same position asa, a, relatively to the remainder of it. This I regard as equivalent tothe first described method. Either of the said methods will enable thehoops or springs to retain their circular form and leave them asinflexible in upward and downward directions as ordinary hoops, at allparts but at a, a, where they are capable in a full-sized skirt of beingbent as shown in Fig. 2, by the weight of the front part to allow thelatter to fall down over the edge of a seat when the back part of thehoop is secured to the seat by being sat upon, or if the weight of theskirt alone should not be suflicient, the weight of the dress outside ofit could not fail thus to bend them. Then the wearer stands up again thehoop resumes its proper shape and horizontal condition.

That I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is:

The construction of one or more of the hoops or springs A', A', of askirt with elastic pieces a, a., or their equivalent, ar-

ranged one on each side so as to provide for fiexure of said hoop orhoops over the edge of a seat when its or their back parts are sat upon,without impairing the infiexibility in an upward and downward directionof any other parts than those where the exure is immediately required,substantially as herein described.

GE ORGE MALLORY. Witnesses WM. TUsoH, W. HAnrF.

[FIRST PRINTED 1911.]

